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Justice News

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of New Mexico

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Tuesday, May 6, 2014

Tijeras Man Sentenced to Ten Years in Prison for Violating Federal Firearms Laws

ALBUQUERQUE – Glenn Isaac Garcia, 25, of Tijeras, N.M., was sentenced yesterday to 10 years in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Garcia was convicted of this offense based on a guilty plea entered on Dec. 3, 2013

Garcia was arrested in Oct. 2013, on a criminal complaint alleging that he unlawfully possessed a handgun and ammunition in Bernalillo County, N.M., on March 9, 2013. According to the complaint, on that day, officers of the Albuquerque Police Department were engaged in a law enforcement operation to execute an arrest warrant for a suspect with a criminal history of violence. During the operation, the officers located the suspect driving a vehicle in which Garcia was a passenger. As the officers slowly drove by the suspect’s vehicle, Garcia fired several shots at the officers’ unmarked police vehicle. Shortly thereafter, Garcia again pointed his firearm outside of the vehicle in which he was a passenger and fired several shots at a second unmarked police vehicle occupied by officers. A high speed chase ensued during which Garcia fired multiple shots at two more police vehicles, disabling one of the vehicles. The chase ended and Garcia and the suspect were arrested after the suspect crashed his vehicle.

Court records reflect that Garcia was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition in March 2013 because previously he had been convicted of several methamphetamine trafficking offenses in 2008 and the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle in 2009 in the 2nd Judicial District Court for the State of New Mexico.

This case was investigated by the Albuquerque office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Albuquerque Police Department, with assistance from the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Louis E. Valencia.

Garcia was prosecuted as part of a federal anti-violence initiative that targets “the worst of the worst” offenders for federal prosecution. Under this initiative, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and federal law enforcement agencies work with New Mexico’s District Attorneys and state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies to target violent or repeat offenders for federal prosecution with the goal of removing repeat offenders from communities in New Mexico for as long as possible.